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Tokyo Babylon

Tokyo Babylon

List Price: $19.99
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Rating: 4 stars
Summary: What about tha eye?
Review: The first two dragons seen in the anime movie "X", Subaru, a Dragon of the Heaven(Ten no Ryu), and Seishiro, a Dragon of the Earth(Chi no Ryu) were at one time close friends. This is the story before opposite forces throw them into battling each other for Earth's future.

As always, the animation is beautiful, as it is with CLAMP. If you're collecting the anime series "X", get this prequel to a great series... Just think of this as an OAV before X.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Before X
Review: The first two dragons seen in the anime movie "X", Subaru, a Dragon of the Heaven(Ten no Ryu), and Seishiro, a Dragon of the Earth(Chi no Ryu) were at one time close friends. This is the story before opposite forces throw them into battling each other for Earth's future.

As always, the animation is beautiful, as it is with CLAMP. If you're collecting the anime series "X", get this prequel to a great series... Just think of this as an OAV before X.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Delightful OAV faithful to the Clamp original
Review: These videos are a wonderful introduction to Tokyo Babylon, particularly in the US, where the manga will probably never be released...for reasons that are thankfully not rendered clearly in the animation. Subaru Sumeragi, as a onmyouji (a Japanese medium and exorcist) is privy to things that a normal sixteen only imagines. With his best friend, Seishiro Sakurazuka, and his twin sister, Hokuto, Subaru stars in a tale that interweaves an existentialist Tokyo with traditional Japanese mysticism. Why is the title of this two part series, ? Such a question is not necessarily made clear even upon repeated viewings of the videos but is essential to truly understanding the story. The title is a metaphor, likening the city of Tokyo to the Biblical city of Babel and criticizing the hubris of the modern populace. Their selfishness and arrogance is compared to the purity and innocence of Subaru. Oh, and by the way, for those fans of X/1999, a manga title released in the US by Viz Communications, Seishiro is also known as Sakurazukamori...

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: A nice complement to the original
Review: This 2-part OVA is a nice complement to the original manga series,however it does have its flaws.TB stars Subaru Sumeragi,his twin sister Hokuto,and their friend Seichiro Sakurazuka.Subaru is a powerful medium and exorcist(onmyouji) who must deal with all the strange happenings in Tokyo city.In the first episode he is hired to find out the cause behind the many accidents which seem to have plagued a major construction site,as all the top executives in the company are being killed one after the other.In the second episode Subaru witnesses a murder in a subway,and teams up with Mirie,who has the power of post-cognition in an attempt to stop the serial killer.

The background of this anime is the vast jungles of iron and concrete that have filled Tokyo city and of the suffering of the people who live there.Through the camera angles and skilled direction one gets the feeling that this is more than just a ghost story.Rather its a social criticism of our modern society as a whole.The animation is good in the first part and excellent in the second.The characters themselves are interesting as none of them are as they appear to be,not to mention the relationships between them that people who have read the manga will notice ^_~ Now as much as I wanted to give this title a full 5 stars,I couldnt.Why?First,because its TOO short.Fans of the original are going to wine after seeing it,not to mention new fans wont understand or appreciate the story as much.Second,the difference in animation quality between the two halves of the title are going to leave you wondering about the reason behind it(there was a time gap between the release of the two).And the subtitles sometimes appear before or after the the actual speech.

Overall,if youve read the manga then clearly this is a must-have DVD.Or if youre a CLAMP fan then you should check this out and try to get the books as well.If youre just a casual passer-by,take my advice and rent it first.You wont enjoy or understand it though,for the afore-mentioned reasons.

Note:If anyone is wondering about the strange title,its like a simile to the city of Babel that was supposedly destroyed by the gods because of its inhabitants arrogance and their attempt to reach the heavens by building the Tower of Babel.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Not Bad
Review: This 2-Part OVA(Original Animation Video) is based on the original CLAMP manga: Tokyo Babylon. It really has nothing to do with the manga except for the three main characters themselves: Subaru Sumeragi, Hokuto Sumeragi, and Seishirou Sakurazuka. The story on each part is original and has no actual baring on the manga.

Okay...This anime was good even though it is 2 parts long. I personally feel it can stand alone without the manga, though you might have to watch it a couple of times to understand it the story a little better.

The background music is good!! There is one vocal song per part. The first vocal song is called "Kiss Me" and is the only thing that I disliked in the OVA. The second vocal song is "Deja-Vu" and is really neat!!

Since this is an OVA, CLAMP didn't really have too much to do with the production(except publicity). Therefore the drawings were not done by them. The drawings are not bad, but they are nothing close to the manga!! The animation is okay, considering that the first part was made in 1992 and the second was made in 1994. Considering that Part 2 was made a couple of years after the first one, it is noticeable that the drawings are a little better than the first, though the animation seems the same.

The two stories are very good. One involving an employee of a building project who seems to be offing people in a rather odd way to climb up the corporate ladder.

The other involves a woman who can see into the past while at the same time trying to catch a subway murderer.

Both of which involve Hokuto, Subaru, and Seishirou.

However, the anime only seems to pick up small pieces of the manga and intertwine them with the original stories.

The manga is seven volumes long and the OVA fails to cover all of it, which disappoints the manga fans. You could say the OVA is a teaser for the manga, which I have heard is a lot better.

The only problem is that we have yet to see it commercially translated here in America. Why? Considering the fact that Seishirou and Subaru love each other and both are male, that would seem the reason they chose to not translate it. Their relationship(called shounen-ai which means basically means homosexual love between two males)is very tasteful and thought-provoking and is the main focus of the story of Tokyo Babylon. The manga does not contain and graphic sex or such thing and neither does the anime. The anime gives a few shounen-ai moments, but doesn't come close to the manga(from which I heard the shounen-ai level is practically through the roof). But CLAMP is very tasteful with their relationships so expect a good story. You can always order them from Japan, I have just recently after purchasing Tokyo Babylon OVA. However it will be a few weeks before they arrive in America from Japan. If you are taking up Japanese then you won't mind the Japanese imports. I have taken up Japanese and am looking forward to the manga. If you can't, there are a few places online where people have done fan translations and there are also manga scans, though it feels a lot better to get the manga since CLAMP has asked that none of their works be put online without their permission.

Hope I have helped

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: A pale shadow of the manga
Review: This anime takes the wonderful and adorable Tokyo Babylon manga and makes it look bad. It gets points from me because I adore Subaru and Seishirou, but the dub voices are awful, the plot is, while CLAMP-ly original, not on par with the original manga (which has not been translated in the US, but you can find translations and scanlations of it online), and the animation just doesn't hold the same charm that other CLAMP titles do.

I've heard said about this that you either love it or hate it. Personally, I was disappointed. Some adore it, but most haven't seen the manga, of which this is a sad, pale shadow.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Potential unrealized
Review: This is a wonderful companion to the original manga series, but even the most versed Tokyo Babylon fans will likely be a little let down by the material covered here. The stories covered in the OAVs, while presented true to the spirit of the original manga, aren't particularly integral to the much larger story behind Tokyo Babylon. The only hint of the series' true depth in these OAVs is a brief opening sequence. Unfortunately it's been done in such a way that will leave those who haven't read the manga scratching their heads in confusion.

Still; the animation is excellent for its time, the action is fast-paced and the OAVs stand alone much better than CLAMP's other early OAV attempt RG Veda. It's still enjoyable... just not as much as it could have been.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: tokyo babylon is great
Review: this is one of the best videos ever i highly suggest it if you like darker animes with bits of comedy....somthing i dont understand though...i want the series to come to america but it wont cuase of the shonan ai (male-male relationship)...but what about other series...like fake..or bronze....hope this helps.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Fantastic art by Clamp turned into a fascinating video!
Review: This OAv is one of the best animes out there. The story centers around modern day tokyo still haunted by ancient troubles. Spirits, ghosts and psychopathes are common. Young Subarau Sumeragi, a mystic, is called for help solving a series of murders on a subway train. The story is developed wonderfully, and the art, setting, and direction are magnificent. END

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Condensed Clamp for the Masses
Review: This series is true to the characters and watchable by both the fans of the original 'comic' and of the beautiful animation. The voices in Japanese are supurb, and the story is dramatic. I highly recommend this series.


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